CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. — Citrus County is seeing a boost in tourism, but what's drawing more people to the area? Some say it's the Internet.
- Citrus County sees increase in tourism
- Locals say growth due to the Internet
Sean Daugherty grew up on Citrus County waters and wanted to continue his life here, but couldn't find a job after high school.
He said, "If you wanted to have a decent job when you got out of school it was going to the power plant. I just didn't see myself being the power plant guy."
Daugherty said he moved up north to find work, but a few years ago, things changed.
"When I was a kid it was just me and my buddies out here hanging out and then this thing called the Internet came out and everybody kind of found this place," Daugherty said.
As tourism grew, Daugherty found a way to make a living in the place he loves and come back home. He got his captain license and opened his own charter boat business three years ago.
"Now that we're a few years in I can really see the numbers are up. There's no denying that more and more people are coming here and enjoying Citrus County," he said.
The county's tourism development council said 531,000 people visited the county and stayed at area hotels in the last year — which is a little over 8 percent more than the year before.
Officials said those visitors, who mostly came for vacation to see the manatees, fish, or scallops, spent about $167,000,000.
Daugherty said he is confident that trend will continue and is thankful to have found a way to be able to bring his family back home.
"It's kind of like the American dream. That's what you want to do, you want to have your kids grow up in the town that you grew up in," he said.
The tourist development council also found an increase in visitors from the northeast and from other counties.